The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-10-01

would exist, and for which he has pro-
vided cure ? Is the father justified
in being indignant at the cry of his in
fant child? Can the infinite God then
be justified in being indignant at the
sin of his moral infant
One thing is certain when you at
tempt to read any of these human feel
ings that are usually sinful, into God,
you are treading on very dangerous
ground. You will be pretty sure to
humanize your Deity in a bad sense.
You will get him so much like man
that he will be not much better. You
will be quite certain to lose sight of
1.-The Interchangeable love" of God and
manufacture a Deity that will need ap-
peasing like the deities of the Pagan
mythology.
The only sure and safe way to do is
to refer all the Biblical expressions CON
corning the wrath and anger of God to
his primitive activity. When we are
being punished for our sins, it is very
natural for us to think that God is angry
with US, and there is no doubt that this
is the way this word came to be applied
to God in the Scriptures. 1t is our
human reading Of this experience. We
attribute it to the anger Of God just as
the Indian attributes the lightning and
the thunder to the anger of the Great
Spirit. But when we come to know
that God Furnishes in love, this word
can have no meaning for us, save as it
expresses the primitive activity of God.
Go beyond this and your word will
either have no meaning or wrong one.
So with change in God.
Change in the form of his activity
can be made very clear and certain,
but when you go beyond that and at
tempt to tell how his feelings change,
you are in deep water and will be quite
likely to bring up nothing that is of
any value, if you do not get drowned
yourself. Until, therefore, we have
further revelations from DR.. Sweetser,
we shall hold on to the ''old fiction, "
that all the change possible to God is in
the form of his activity, as being, at
least, essentially true.
Divine Love and Justice.
We are glad DR.. Sweetser agrees
with us so far as to admit that to "a
certain extent" justice is the form
divine love takes toward the sinful, but
he thinks it is something more. Well,
what more is it =? He tells us it is "a
requirement of the moral law,-ab-
stractly distinct idea; practically a
conformity to the demands of the prin-
ciple of righteousness" ." Well, what is
the essence of the moral law ? Is it
anything but love, absolute goodness ?
If not then, what does that law require.
but goodness or love, and what can JUS
tice be but form of that goodness or
love
But abstractly, justice is "a distinct
idea" When you abstract or separate
justice from goodness, you lose your
justice we imagine. A judge who
should administer justice ia such way
as to make it something different from
goodness would certainly dispense
with JUSTICE Justice abstractly is
fitness or right. What is just is fit and
right, and what is fit and right is good,
therefore justice can only differ from
love in being a form of it.
But it is conformity to the demands
of the principle Of righteousness - Well,
what is the principle Of righteousness T?
Is it anything but love, active good
ness ? Can one be righteous without
being good, without loving God and
man ? What can conformity to the
principle of righteousness be, but con-
formity to the law of love ? What can
justice be then but form of love p? A
little analysis applied to the doctors
words show that he has added nothing
to our definition of justice.
The truth is that love is the princi-
pie of all divine activity. This princi-
pie seeks the good of all beings loved.
When a wrong is done, a sin commit
ted, this principle is violated, and so
demands a remedy; a righting of the
wrong and restoration of the right. 1t
is the business of justice to do this, to
remedy this evil and right this wrong.
1t takes such measures and employs
such means as will do this. Hence
justice in all cases of wrong doing, is
the remedial agent of goodness or love.
1t is the form or method which love
takes to remedy the wrong and guard
and maintain the right, and we fail to
see that it is ever anything more. To
make it anything more, to make it de-
maDd something that love does not
demand, would be to get up an old
fashioned orthodox war in heaven.
G0lesbtTg, Hl. S. CRANE.
The political Parties are just now
/ meeting in Convention and "arraigninR''